BIENVENUE!!! First things first, a little about myself: I am currently a student working towards a Teaching degree and specializing in French! I've been speaking, reading and writing in French since 2004, where I met my mentor and teacher who really showed me a different view on teaching as a whole and the French culture. In 2006 I took a 2 week trip to France to really absorb the culture and practice what I had been working on for the past 2 years. Needless to say, it was probably the best 2...
BIENVENUE!!! First things first, a little about myself: I am currently a student working towards a Teaching degree and specializing in French! I've been speaking, reading and writing in French since 2004, where I met my mentor and teacher who really showed me a different view on teaching as a whole and the French culture. In 2006 I took a 2 week trip to France to really absorb the culture and practice what I had been working on for the past 2 years. Needless to say, it was probably the best 2 weeks of my life! That fall, I began my studies at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky where I tested into Junior level French classes. After not being able to afford another year at 20k a semester I decided to join the Army. For the past 4 years I was assigned to 5th Special Forces Group (AIRBORNE) out of Fort Campbell, KY. I was deployed twice to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom VII (2010) as well as Operation New Dawn (2011) where I was a tutor once a week for French speaking Green Berets. Now I am back in school finishing up my degree in Teaching and French!
My Approach:
As a non-native speaker I had to take baby steps into the world of French. My very first French teacher is my role model and influence to my approach on teaching. Students will not just "memorize" lessons but instead be active participants in reading, writing and speaking using several different methods. "Flashcards, flashcards, flashcards"-- not only are they a great review tool for sections being studied but for French studying as a whole. Flashcards will be used to ID the gender of a word (OUI, French has masculine and femanine words!) using red for fem. words and blue for masc. words. A neutral color will be used for verbs. English on one side of the card while French is on the other side, students will be expected to see the English but say the French; that way it is instilled into their minds. Translations from English to French and vice versa will also be a part of ever lesson covering any verb tenses and vocabulary learned over t
